Confidence improves in graduate jobs market

Students close to finishing their university courses have been told that there are signs that they may find it slightly easier to find a graduate job than their predecessors over the past two years.

A recent poll by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), which questioned 91 major graduate employers, highlighted that over a third of companies will be hiring more staff in the coming 12 months.

According to the Times, Carl Gilleard, the chief executive of the AGR, believes that the worst may have passed, but students will still face stiff competition to fill vacancies.

He said: "Last year, we feared the worst. We didn't quite get the worst, but there was a significant fall of ten per cent in graduate level vacancies.

"In February, we were predicting a fall of around 1.6 per cent this year, so it's now just about levelled out. Since then, confidence levels have improved - significantly so at some companies. There is a sense we might have turned the corner, but it's fragile."

Meanwhile, the poll also found that many companies feel they receive poor applications from students, who rush to send out their CVs to numerous businesses without ensuring that they are error-free.

Last year finance graduate Henry Sparling told the Guardian that students should focus on ensuring they have a strong CV, as this is likely to be required to simply ensure an interview at a chosen job.